The present invention pertains to operation management of a plurality of elevators installed inside a building, and particularly a communications control system and communications control method for elevators, shortening both the time that an elevator passenger waits to board an elevator and the time of waiting until arrival at a desired destination floor, and resistant to failure.
Explanation is made of a conventional communications control system for elevators, making reference to the drawings. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a construction of the conventional communications control system for elevators shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open 6-080322, for example.
In this conventional communications control system for elevators, as shown in FIG. 16, three sets of control units 91, 92 and 93 for controlling three elevators are provided as an example.
Each control unit 91, 92 and 93 has car control units CCa, CCb and CCc for controlling its own elevator, and additionally, each control unit 91, 92 and 93 is integrally provided with group management control processing group control units GCa, GCb and GCc, being made compact for distributed processing, and hall call control processing hall control units HCa, HCb and HCc.
Each control unit 91, 92 and 93 also has a transmission LSI (Large Scale Integrated circuit)Sa, Sb, and Sc, respectively, and information outputted from here is transmitted via a bus-form high-speed transmission line 94.
On the hall side, in correspondence to the 2-series construction of the present example, there is provided for each series of each hall, a hall controller 95 comprising a one-chip microcomputer (one-chip micon). Each hall controller 95 is expressed by a reference numeral S followed by a numeral (1 or 2) which indicates a series type and a numeral (1xe2x88x92m) which indicates a hall type. For example, the hall controller 95 on the series 1 side at floor m is specified as Slm.
These hall controllers 95 perform input processing of a hall call registration signal from a hall call registration button 96 and output processing of a lighting signal for a hall call registration lamp 97. Further, these hall controllers 95 are connected per series and in a parallel fashion to master nodes CPU Ma, Mb and Mc of each control unit 91, 92, and 93 via transmission lines 98, 99.
One from among the plurality of control units 91-93 is made to be a main node for performing processing of dividing up work among each elevator and achieving synchronization among the control units therein, and the other control units are made to be subnodes for obeying the main unit. For control functions requiring real time processing, synchronized control processing of the control units of all the series is performed from the main unit. For control functions requiring cyclic processing, the control processing is processed by dividing them among the control units of each series.
The conventional communications control system for elevators described above had a problem that synchronization commands of the cyclic processing caused a useless processing burden on sub-nodes that were clearly not related to the given communication.
Further, in the case of the conventional communications control system for elevators described above, there was a problem that when a method was used such that the sub-node side detected collisions of transmissions and staggered transmission times, when there were ten-plus sub units, the sub side presumed that answer collisions would occur, and in order to receive all answers, the waiting times of the main unit became widely varied. Transmission of large amounts of faulty data generated with the answer collisions caused the network to be weighed down with useless traffic.
Further, in the case of the communications control system for elevators described above, there was a problem that while a given network is waiting for a given cyclic process to be performed, that network has no data to communicate and is in an idle state.
Further, in the case of the communications control system for elevators described above, when the control unit that is made to be the main node is down for a given period of time, resuming of communications is achieved by a method such that the first control unit, from among the remaining control units to achieve control of the transmission line, is made to be the new master, and communications are resumed. This seems reasonable at first glance; however, the sending out of data in order to become the main node becomes more complicated the more sub-nodes there are, and data collisions on the network are expected due to a plurality of such data communication taking place simultaneously. It is difficult to be sure that correct data communication/receiving will be performed at all the nodes, and moreover, there is a possibility that a single main node might not be present or two or more nodes might become main nodes simultaneously and send out synchronization commands separately. When time was apportioned for restoring failures, there was a possibility that serious trouble may be caused in the operation of an elevator, which handles human life.
The present invention was developed to solve the above-mention problems. Therefore, an objective of the present invention is to obtain a communications control system for elevators and communications control method in which the synchronization commands do not cause data receiving burdens on all the nodes; the possibility of collisions at the nodes upon sending out data is made as minimal as possible; the network is not idling but is capable of working even during data processing at each node; and even in the case when the main node is down due to some cause, a new main node resumes data communication/receiving within extremely short period of time; and, as a result, the operation management of the Plurality of elevators installed inside the building can be conducted in such a way that both the time that an elevator passenger waits to board an elevator and the time of waiting until arrival at a desired destination floor may be reduced, and, further, the communications central system is resistant to failure.
A communications control system for elevators according to the present invention has a plurality of control units including at least respective car control units and elevator hall registration control units, each of the plurality of control units having a node, the plurality of nodes being connected to each other via a network, and each of the node having a management table establishing correspondence between a node number and a network address, wherein the communications control system for elevators comprises a node that acts as a master when, in a case where a first network address corresponding to the node number of this node is, upon referring to the management table, a specific address in the management table, this node sends to all other nodes a broadcast communication to notify that this node is a temporary master having the, first network address added thereto and receives from another temporary master a broadcast communication stating that this other node is the temporary master having a second network address corresponding to the node number of this other temporary master added thereto, if the fist network address and the second network address conform to specific conditions; and a node that acts as a slave when, in a case where the network address corresponding to the node number of this node is not a specific address in the management table or the first network address corresponding to the node number of this node is a specific address in the management table upon referring to the management table, this node sends to all other nodes a broadcast communication to notify that this node is a temporary master having the first network address added thereto and receives from another temporary master a broadcast communication stating that this other node is the temporary master having a second network address corresponding to the node number of this other temporary master added thereto, if the first network address and the second network address do not conform to specific conditions.
In the communications control system for elevators according to the present invention, the node acting as the slave acts as a quasi-master when, in a case where it does not receive synchronization start data from the node acting as the master within a predetermined amount of time and, upon referring to the management table, a third network address corresponding to its node number is a second specific address in the management table, the node sends to all other nodes a broadcast communication to notify that this node is a temporary master having the third network address added thereto and receives from another temporary master a broadcast communication for notifying that this other node is the temporary master having a fourth network address corresponding to the node number of the other temporary master added thereto, if this third and fourth network addresses conform to specific conditions; and the node acting as a slave acts as a slave once again in a case when the node references the management table and the third network address corresponding to its node number is not the second specific address in the management table and a broadcast communication is received from a node acting as the quasi-master stating this node acting as the quasi-master is the temporary master within the predetermined amount of time.
In the communications control system for elevators according to the present invention, in the case when the node acting as the slave detects that the master and the quasimaster do not exist, this node acting as the slave sends to the other nodes by means of a broadcast communication a management table rebuild request data having the management table data currently held by the node added thereto, and changes over to an operation for determining the master upon rebuilding the management table based on the management table rebuild request data received from another node.
In the communications control system for elevators according to the present invention, the master sends a first synchronization start data to a first slave among a plurality of slaves; upon receiving synchronization completion data from a previous slave sends subsequent synchronization start data to a subsequent slave in sequence; upon receiving the synchronization completion data from a last slave from among the plurality of slaves completes one cycle of synchronization communication, and also, measures the one cycle of the synchronization communication as a synchronization communication cycle time, and measures a duration between the sending of the synchronization start data to each slave as a synchronization communication node allocated time, thus managing the communication; and the each slave upon receiving the synchronization start data from the master sends data to another node; and upon completing the sending of the data sends synchronization completion data to the master.
In the communications control system for elevators according to the present invention, each slave puts data that it needs to communicate into a sending buffer in advance before receiving the synchronization start data from the master.
In the communications control system for elevators according to the present invention, the master measures a time duration of one cycle of the synchronization communication for a particular slave, and when this measured synchronization communication cycle time is less than a target synchronization communication cycle time the master adds an allocated time to the synchronization start data in a later synchronization communication with that particular slave and communicates the same, the allocated time being a differential of the measured synchronization communication cycle time and the target synchronization communication cycle time; and the particular slave upon receiving the synchronization start data from the master communicates excess data to another node separately from the normal data communication based on the allocated time.
In the communications control system for elevators according to the present invention, the slave measures a time duration of one cycle of its own synchronization communication, and when this measured synchronization communication cycle time is less than a target synchronization communication cycle time the slave adds an allocated time to a synchronization response data in a later synchronization communication with the master and communicates the same, the allocated time being a differential of the measured synchronization communication cycle time and the target synchronization communication cycle time; and the slave communicates excess data to another node separately from the normal data communication based on the allocated time; and the master upon receiving the synchronization response data from the slave controls the synchronization communication based on the allocated time.
In the communications control system for elevators according to the present invention having a plurality of control units including at least respective car control units and elevator hall registration control units, each of the control units having a node, the plurality of nodes being mutually connected via a network as a single master and a plurality of slaves, and each of the node having a management table establishing correspondence between a node number and a network address, the master communicates a first synchronization start data to a first slave among a plurality of slaves; upon receiving synchronization completion data from a previous slave sends subsequent synchronization start data to a subsequent slave in sequence; upon receiving the synchronization completion data from a last slave from among the plurality of slaves completes one cycle of synchronization communication, and also, measures the one cycle of the synchronization communication as a synchronization communication cycle time, and measures a duration between the sending of the synchronization start data to each slave as a synchronization communication node allocated time, thus managing the communication; and in which each slave upon receiving the synchronization start data from the master sends data to another node; and upon completing the sending of the data communicates synchronization completion data to the master.
In the communications control system for elevators according to the present invention, each slave puts data that it needs to communicate into a sending buffer in advance before receiving the synchronization start data from the master.
In the communications control system for elevators according to the present invention, the master measures a time duration of one cycle of the synchronization communication for a particular slave, and when this measured synchronization communication cycle time is less than a target synchronization communication cycle time the master adds an allocated time to the synchronization start data in a later synchronization communication with that particular slave and communicates the same, the allocated time being a differential of the measured synchronization communication cycle time and the target synchronization communication cycle time; and the particular slave upon receiving the synchronization start data from the master communicates excess data to another node separately from the normal data communication based on the allocated time.
In the communications control system for elevators according to the present invention, the slave measures a time duration of one cycle of its own synchronization communication, and when this measured synchronization communication cycle time is less than a target synchronization communication cycle time the slave adds an allocated time to a synchronization response data in a later synchronization communication with the master and communicates the same, the allocated time being a differential of the measured synchronization communication cycle time and the target synchronization communication cycle time, and the slave communicates excess data to another node separately from the normal data communication based on the allocated time; and the master upon receiving the synchronization response data from the slave controls the synchronization communication based on the allocated time.
In the communications control method for elevators according to the present invention having a plurality of control units including at least respective car control units and elevator hall registration control units, each of the control units having a node, the plurality of nodes being mutually connected via a network, and each of the node having a management table establishing correspondence between a node number and a network address, the communications control method comprises a node acting as a master when, in the case where a first network address corresponding to the node number of this node is, upon referring to the management table, a specific address in the management table, this node sends to all other nodes a broadcast communication to notify that this node is a temporary master having the first network address added thereto and receives from another temporary master a broadcast communication for notifying that this other node is the temporary master having a second network address corresponding to the node number of this other temporary master added thereto, if the first network address and the second network address conform to specific conditions; an a node acting as a slave when, in a case where the network address corresponding to the node number of this node is not a specific address in the management table or the first network address corresponding to the node number of this node is a specific address in the management table upon referring to the management table, this node sends to all other nodes a broadcast communication to notify that this node is a temporary master having the first network address added thereto and receives from another temporary master a broadcast communication for notifying that this other node is the temporary master having a second network address corresponding to the node number of this other temporary master added thereto, if the first network address and the second network address do not conform to specific conditions.
In the communications control method for elevators according to the present invention, with a node acting as the slave, the node acting as the slave acts as a quasi-master when, in a case where it does not receive synchronization start data from the node acting as the master within a predetermined amount of time and, upon referring to the management table, a third network address corresponding to its node number is a second specific address in the management table, the node sends to all other nodes a broadcast communication to notify that this node is a temporary master having the third network address added thereto and receives from another temporary master a broadcast communication for notifying that this other node is the temporary master having a fourth network address corresponding to the node number of the other temporary master added thereto, if this third and fourth network addresses conform to specific conditions; and the node acting as a slave acts as a slave once again in a case when the node references the management table and the third network address corresponding to its node number is not the second specific address in the management table and a broadcast communication is received from a node acting as the quasi-master stating this node acting as the quasi-master is the temporary master within the predetermined amount of time.
In the communications control method for elevators according to the present invention, with the node acting as the slave, in the case when the node acting as the slave detects that the master and the quasi-master do not exist, this node acting as the slave sends to the other nodes by means of a broadcast communication a management table rebuild request data having the management table data currently held by the node added thereto, and changes over to an operation for determining the master upon rebuilding the management table based on the management table rebuild request data received from another node.
The communications control method for elevators according to the present invention, further comprises the master sending a first synchronization start data to a first slave among a plurality of slaves; upon receiving synchronization completion data from a previous slave sending a subsequent synchronization start data to a subsequent slave in sequence; upon receiving the synchronization completion data from a last slave from among the plurality of slaves completing one cycle of synchronization communication, and also, measuring the one cycle of the synchronization communication as a synchronization communication cycle time, and measuring a duration between the sending of the synchronization start data to each slave as a synchronization communication node allocated time, thus managing the communication; and each slave upon receiving the synchronization start data from the master sending data to another node; and upon completing the communication of the data communicating synchronization completion data to the master.
In the communications control method for elevators according to the present invention, with each slave operating, each slave puts data that it needs to send into a sending buffer in advance before receiving the synchronization start data from the master.
In the communications control method for elevators according to the present invention, the master operating, the master measures a time duration of one cycle of the synchronization communication for a particular slave, and when this measured synchronization communication cycle time is less than a target synchronization communication cycle time the master adds an allocated time to the synchronization data in a later synchronization communication with that particular slave and communicates the same, the allocated time being a differential of the measured synchronization communication cycle time and the target synchronization communication cycle time; and in the step of each slave operating, the particular slave upon receiving the synchronization start data from the master sends excess data to another node separately from the normal data communication based on the allocated time.
In the communications control method for elevators according to the present invention, with each slave operating, the slave measures a time duration of one cycle of its own synchronization communication, and when this measured synchronization communication cycle time is less than a target synchronization communication cycle time the slave adds an allocated time to a synchronization response data in a later synchronization communication with the master and sends the same, the allocated time being a differential of the measured synchronization communication cycle time and the target synchronization communication cycle time; and the slave sends excess data to another node separately from the normal data communication based on the allocated time; and in the step of the master operating, the master upon receiving the synchronization response data from the slave controls the synchronization communication based on the allocated time.